A person who suffers an injury or illness due to a workplace injury or job-related activity is generally entitled to workers’ compensation. Workers’ compensation is supplied by your company’s insurance or other funding for which the employer is responsible that provides medical care and cash benefits for employees who suffer on-the-job injuries, sicknesses, or disabilities. In certain states, some workers are excluded from workers’ compensation, including farm, maritime, and railroad employees, casual workers, and business owners. Under normal circumstances, an employee cannot sue his or her employer directly because such cases are covered under workers’ compensation. However, in cases where an employer does not have proper workers’ compensation coverage in place; or an injury is caused by a third-party such as a subcontractor, property owner, or equipment manufacturer; or due to gross negligence or misconduct on the employer’s part, compensation may be obtained through a workplace injury lawsuit.
An employee may expect compensation for personal injury or death by accident arising out of and in the course of his or her employment. Workers’ compensation pays for necessary medical treatment, loss of wages during a period of disability, and compensation for permanent disability or disfigurement.
If an employee is injured and unable to work for more than seven days, he or she is eligible to be compensated at the rate of 66 2/3% of the employee’s average weekly wage, limited to 100% of the State’s average weekly wage as established each year by the South Carolina Employment Security Commission. If the period of total disability exceeds 14 days, the employee is eligible for compensation beginning with the date of the accident. The maximum award for total disability or death is limited by law to five hundred (500) weeks of compensation.
The rate of compensation is determined by the injured employee’s average weekly wage and cannot exceed 100% of the state’s average weekly wage. The loss of both hands, arms, feet, legs, or vision in both eyes, or a combination of two such losses, constitutes total and permanent disability. In addition, a commissioner can make other disability determinations based on the particular loss or impairment to the whole person.
Amounts of workers’ compensation for partial disability or disfigurement are generally established and limited by statute or Commission regulation. Awards are usually made in terms of the number of weeks of workers’ compensation to which the employee is entitled based on the extent of the disabling injury. Workers’ compensation pays for necessary medical treatment, loss of wages during a period of disability, and compensation for permanent disability or disfigurement.
A disease may be recognized as an occupational disease only if it is caused by a hazard recognized as peculiar to a particular trade, process, occupation, or employment as a direct result of continuous exposure to normal working conditions. In addition to occupational diseases, injury from harmful exposures to ionizing radiation is also defined for particular attention under the Workers’ Compensation Act.
How to Get Workers’ Compensation
When an employee is injured on the job, he or she should immediately report the accident to the employer, or the employee may jeopardize the payment of medical fees and other compensation he or she may be entitled to under the Act. In no event should the employee wait more than ninety days from the date of the accident to report it to the employer. Claims for workers’ compensation must be made within two years after the accident or the date of death. Failure to comply with the timeliness statutes could negate any possible award or other compensation. Once an employer receives notice of an accident or has knowledge about an accident, the employer, or its representative, has ten (10) days in which to report the accident to the Commission.
Contact a Charleston Lawyer regarding your Workers’ Compensation Damages
The Clore Law Group has helped people who were injured on the job receive compensation for medical expenses and lost earning, both past and future. Contact this Charleston law firm today for your free consultation regarding workers’ compensation damages.
